


A Strong Hold.

by unluckiestgods



Category: American Gods (TV), American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Genre: American Gods Season 2, Book influenced, F/M, M/M, Mad Sweeney is like the wind, Madmoon, One-Sided Attraction, Show influenced, Suggestive Themes, he blows both ways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 19:46:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckiestgods/pseuds/unluckiestgods
Summary: Shadow has a great time while Bilquis and Sweeney have a conversation about what the heart wants.





	A Strong Hold.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting anything here! Ahh, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I love all these characters to death.

 

“So…Is everyone here a god?” Asked Shadow.

“A god?” Asked Czernobog.

“Yeah.” Insisted Shadow, sounding genuinely interested.

 

Mr. Nancy and Czernobog stared at him for only a couple of seconds before bursting out laughing. He didn’t mind. Heck, he laughed along with them. He was too enthralled to be offended.

 

Shadow had managed to survive a lot of what that past month had thrown at him. But he had been so worried about keeping most of his head attached to the rest of his body that he hadn’t noticed all of the strange beauty going on around him. As he sat there, in that noisy diner, he felt his eyes open for the first time in many _many_ years.

 

All those wrinkled old men and women, some hunched over their drinks, some chain-smoking with their mouths full, all of them were holy in their own special ways. He knew this because he had seen it. His memory might have been foggy ( _truth be told, he still didn’t remember how they had all gotten from the carousel to that beach and how, from there, they had all agreed to stop by the same shady looking Motel America for a bite to eat_ ) but _Shadow believed it to be real_. And so it was. Now he was here, laughing with the gods, watching them push freshly open beer bottles towards him, patting his back, and he felt as if all the violence he had been put through might have had a purpose.

 

Czernobog leaned closer, as if he were about to share a secret with Shadow.

 

“These are all idiots.”

 

His giggles come out as smoke and Shadow had to wrinkle his nose when faced with the scent of strong tobacco.

 

He glanced around, looking for anyone who looked like an idiot. Wednesday had his arm draped over Mama Ji’s shoulders and, despite the woman’s lips being pressed into one unamused line, they still seemed to be friendly towards one another. She looked much smaller then, with that apron around her waist. But still, Shadow somehow knew Czernobog would not dare call her an idiot, at least, not to her face. Somewhere behind them, right next to the counter, stood Mad Sweeney. _Hard to miss him_ ; he might have been the tallest thing in the whole room. But he didn’t seem to be in good spirits like the rest of the gods. He was rolling his eyes at the goddess who Shadow had not been told about. He remembered her name, but feared he’d mispronounce it if he said it out loud.

Her eyes were as dark as the night sky and her lips full. There was always a smile hidden in the corners of her mouth. Maybe it had been that smile that had gotten the brand new sweat spots under Sweeney’s armpits there. Shadow scoffed. It was somewhat amusing to see all that bravado drain out of the redhead’s body when being met with the attention of a beautiful woman.

 

He immediately looked for Laura then and found her sitting alone at a table, way in the back, looking terribly still and pale.

Even from where he was sitting he could still see the flies buzzing over her head, waiting for the flesh to slip off of her and rot. She didn’t blink. But she didn't stare either. She was lost somewhere, not fully in that diner, not fully in her grave. Shadow felt something in his chest tighten. _This wasn’t what he wanted_ ; Laura didn’t deserve that sort of death. The incomplete kind. He wished he could help her live. Not necessarily by his side, they both still had their issues to deal with, but with some dignity at the very least. He found himself thinking that he’d be ready to help her die as well, if that had been truly what she wanted.

 

She had been miserable during her whole life, during their whole relationship, during their whole marriage … _All Shadow Moon wanted was to make his wife happy for once._

 

 _I should talk to her,_ thought Shadow. _Make sure those flies aren’t bothering her._

 

But just as he was readying himself to stand up and walk over to Laura, he caught Mad Sweeney staring at him from across the room. There was terror in his eyes. True genuine terror. And by the way his gaze bore into Shadow’s, he could only assume it had something to do with him. Many different emotions crossed his face in the matter of seconds. Terror at first, then something similar to worry, then a hint of what Shadow could swear was shame and then pure unadulterated anger. The ex-con furrowed his brow and shrugged at the leprechaun while mouthing the word _“what”_.

 

Before he ever got an answer, the redhead had turned his back and followed the goddess out of the room.

 

 _“There’s an idiot.”_ Shadow mumbled.

 

* * *

 

 

“A good evening to you, _Rí Colmaine_.”

 

Mad Sweeney chuckled dryly against his whiskey. He would never say it out loud, but Bilquis had always made him nervous. Hearing her voice pronounce a name which had been forgotten by so many caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand. She didn’t speak to him, she purred : every word was a warm breeze, carrying the scent of incense and sunbathed skin, brushing against his flesh and causing all the blood of his body to aim down south. Luckily for Sweeney, he was a fighter, not a lover.

 

“Oh, don’t give me that. I'm already in enough trouble as it is. Last thing I need is yer hungry cunt tryin’ t’a gobble me up.”

 

The words scratched against the walls of his throat. The anger pulsating through his veins was stronger than any aphrodisiac Bilquis might have been hiding under her sleeve. The goddess stood there, quiet but clearly amused by the harshness of Sweeney’s greeting. Her lips curled into a small smile. Mad Sweeney did his best not to look.

 

“…A pleasure to see you as well.” Bilquis tilted her head to examine the fae from head to toe. “You’ve changed.”

 

“It’s called a mullet.” Sweeney grunted against the rim of his glass.

 

She laughed then. It wasn’t a loud laugh but it was awfully sweet. The leprechaun could feel his face burning up at that sound. He’d attribute the sudden pink shade over his cheeks to pure frustration and nothing else _(he’d fight anyone who dared to disagree with him)_. But, the matter of the fact was, nobody was immune to the goddess’s charms. Didn’t matter where they came from or who they prayed to, everyone became awfully small under her gaze. Sweeney knew that. _And Bilquis knew it too._

 

“I did not mean it like that. Something about you is different. Something in here.”

Her hand pressed against his chest, causing the leprechaun to immediately pull his hands back, as if her touch alone could pierce through the skin. 

“ _Someone new._ ”

 

A name immediately came to mind.

There was only one new creature in his life he had been forced to deal with in the past few weeks. Laura Moon, the rock in his shoe that he couldn’t shake off. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it ; thought about what she might have looked like when she was living, writhing away under Shadow Moon, clawing at the mattress, sucking in air through that big mouth of hers. But Sweeney had always thought it to be more of a case of _blue balls_ than tugged heart strings. He couldn’t fuck her. _Hence why he wondered about fucking her._

Still whenever he glanced at the dead wife and saw those hollowed cheeks and the scars peeking from under her shirts, his sexual fantasies were turned to dust.

 

Only when she wasn’t around did Mad Sweeney think about her like that. Laura’s actual presence always served as a bucket of cold water.

 

“Ye’ve been spendin’ too much time with the opposition, _darlin’._ Might wanna ask yer friends t’a redo yer wiring.”

 

He thought that might wound her enough to make Bilquis leave, but instead Sweeney was surprised to find her arms snaking their way around his torso. The goddess rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat up close. The way she sighed once she had fully embraced him was _absolutely delightful._ It transported the irishman to those moments after sex, when the atoms are slowly falling back into place, the world outside of bed begins to exist once more and all the parties involved are glad to enjoy the closeness of each others’ bodies in complete silence. He tried to picture Bilquis enjoying that tender moment atop of him, but found that he actually couldn’t. _No one ever could._

 

“Mmmm, you can lie to me. But your heart will tell me the truth.”

 

The goddess said, her voice now as low as a whisper. Sweeney slowly set his glass down on the counter, afraid that any sudden moves might ruin whatever this was. His grip was too tight around the glass unlike Bilquis’ embrace. That one was sweet and comforting. She allowed the warmth between them to build into something intimate. The leprechaun clenched his jaw while glaring down at her. The Queen of Sheba either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the frustration Sweeney was battling with.

 

She spoke again.

 

“What a beautiful sad song it sings. You cannot be with who you want most. _For your lover is promised to death and you refuse to weep ever again_.”

 

“Yeah, we’re a real case of Romeo ’n’ Shit-head.”

 

He rolled his eyes, now letting his arms hang by his sides as if he were done playing altogether. “I wanna fuck the dead wife just about as much as I wanna fuck you or any other bimbo with a nice pair of…”

 

Bilquis was looking up at him then. Despite being shorter in size something about her eyes sent a shiver down Sweeney’s spine. Dark and infinite and merciless. Her hold was comfortable but firm. The aura of sensuality had not vanished but it had shifted into something dangerous. Predatory. An unspoken warning hung in the air between them. _Do not finish that foolish sentence, I can devour you and I will._ Bilquis’ fingers hooked themselves on his denim jacket. Mad Sweeney was sweating. _He felt trapped in her._

 

“Never mind.”

 

The goddess smiled. A crisis had been averted.

 

“Your heart is so big, Sweeney. Full of every kind of love known to man, ready to burn and be engulfed by the very flames of it…And you choose to fill yourself with shame instead. Yes, making love to that which is mortal is bittersweet. But one can easily develop a taste for it. I know you have. What is it about this one that causes you so much pain? ”

 

One of her hands had moved to draw small circles over the leprechaun’s chest and Mad Sweeney had allowed it without any protests. He nearly looked enthralled by it all; a deity like him starved for attention of any kind. And although he usually satisfied that itch through blood, this proximity and praise left him drunker than any bottle could. Bilquis looked up at him with heavily-hooded eyes. Sweeney gazed back with a softened expression, allowing his attention to slowly focus on the Queen’s mouth. He bowed his head to be closer to her. He could smell it, the candles they used to light in his name. The fresh milk mixed with that morning’s rain, sitting by the door. _The promise of it all laid within those lips._

 

It was the sound of someone laughing in the distance that caused him to snap back to reality.

 

“The fact that she’s a _fuckin’ pain in my arse_!” His voice was not loud enough to be heard across the room but loud enough to shatter the dome of whispers and soft touches Bilquis had built for them. He was back to his combative self, staring with wide eyes and a furrowed brow that left no room for discussion; there would be no candlelight confessions that night! No information for her to go waving around the New Gods’ headquarters!The fun was over! His madness had not been brought up by cuddling but by the thirst for battle and gore! All that talk about heart and left Sweeney feeling particularly bitter.

 

“ I don’t need to go chasin’ no bloody corpse to get my dick wet! Now let me be!”

 

“A corpse.” Bilquis echoed, as if only now understanding what the leprechaun had been talking about. His large hands easily peeled her arms off of him and pressed them to her chest, the furthest away he could get them from his own body. The Queen of Sheba shook her head, lips parted ever so slightly. Sweeney wasn’t used to seeing her like this. In that moment of puzzlement, Bilquis had seemed as frail as he felt.

 

“She’s in there as well, Colmaine. But that’s not what the song is about.”

 

He let go of her wrists, letting his heavy arms swing back to his sides.

 

“Yeah? What’s it about then?”

 

Bilquis furrowed her brow, looking surprised that Sweeney didn’t know the answer to that himself. But her eyes smiled nonetheless and her chest heaved under the V shaped cleavage of her dress. She sang the next words to him in one soft beckoning voice.

 

_“A treasure lost to a pair of dark eyes.”_

 


End file.
